Broad Brook Grange #151 on Facebook

The Grange now has a Facebook page!

My office chair is killing me

I knew it...

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_19/b4177071221162.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5

Guilford, Vermont Green Up 2010

Pictures of Green Up Day activities in Guilford, Vermont on May 1, 2010:

http://picasaweb.google.com/majonen/GuilfordGreenUp2010

IE or Firefox won't display pages?

Emma's HP DV2000 notebook (running Vista crapware) had an interesting problem. For some reason, none of her browsers - Internet Explorer (IE), Firefox, or Google's Chrome - would connect to the Internet. But she did have an actively working net connection because other TCP/IP tools worked OK, such as ping, iTunes, and even Windows update. After a few system restores, IE resets, startup service troubleshooting, futile safe mode boots, Vista and IE updates, Firefox uninstall/reinstalls, I ran across some discussions about Norton's security products causing similar sounding problems, especially on HP computers where, unfortunately, it seems to be a standard part of the software distribution. So I found the Norton removal tool here, put it on a USB stick, then stuck it into Emma's notebook. After removing Norton and rebooting the notebook, all browsers connected OK. Ugh. What a waste of eight hours. Of course, there was nothing at all in the Windows system event logs to indicate what the problem was. Issues like this, I think, are Apple's bread and butter.

West Dummerston Sugar on Snow Supper

Saturday, March 27, 2010

West Dummerston Fire Dept.

Sugar on Snow Supper

Dummerston Center Grange Hall

Seatings: 4:30, 5:45, and 7:00 PM

Adults: $10, 12 & under: $5

Reservations: 802-257-0546 or 802-254-2686

West Brattleboro Sugar on Snow Supper

March 13, 2010

First Congregational Church

West Brattleboro, VT

Seatings at 5:00 and 6:15 pm

Adults: $10, Children 5-12: $5, under 5: $2

Reservations: 802-254-6731

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Guilford Sugar on Snow Suppers 2010

It's that time of year once again, when steam billows out of sugar shacks across the region and vehicles get mired in muck. May as well throw some sugar suppers together. So what is a sugar supper? Ham, baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad, deviled eggs, freshly baked rolls, pickles, donuts, and hot maple syrup on snow. Yum!

March 6, 2010

Broad Brook Grange, Guilford, VT

Seatings at 5:00, 6:00, and 7:00 PM

Adults: $10, Children 5-12: $5, under 5: $2

Reservations: 802-257-4067

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March 20, 2010

Guilford Community Church, Guilford, VT

Seatings at 4:30, 5:45, and 7:00 PM

Adults: $10, Children 5-12: $5, under 5: $3

Reservations: 802-257-1819

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Seksiaddiktioklinikalla

Cousin Harry, whose passions include both sports and all things Finnish, forwarded this new word to me: "seksiaddiktioklinikalla".  Actually, I'm not so sure it's all that new - it probably existed before the whole Tiger Woods episode - but it seems all the publicity has brought this word to the forefront in the Finn press:

http://www.iltasanomat.fi/viihde/uutinen.asp?id=1888777

Finnish is such a dynamic language.

Cow appropriate

Merry Christmas and Happy Moo Year!

(I See Cows)

Want to be a Hobbit extra?

For those aspiring to be elves, orcs, or dwarfs, casting for extras on the two Hobbit films has begun. Some caveats:

• You must be able to work legally in New Zealand.
• You can't be picky.

"Do not bother to tell them what you think you'd be most suitable at (hobbit, elf, human, orc)," said Mr Machiela, who worked for five days on King Kong as an extra. "Most people will want to be a hobbit or an elf anyway, but will end up being an orc or a dead dwarf, and in the background".

I See Cows

My mistake

Our new washer leaks sometimes. The water creeps across the floor and gets under the wall in a corner between the washer room and the mud room. The last time it did this, I noticed that some mold was forming on the lower part of the sheetrock. So it was time to clean out all the old magazines, books, and papers from that corner so that we could work on replacing the drywall (er...wet wall). Most of the stuff I chucked since I hadn't touched it for years. But I did find a folder of partial writings from who knows when. And there was one complete piece that I don't remember writing, nor do I remember the circumstances that led me to write it. So I don't know if it's based on fact. I know I don't have an Uncle Tom and Aunt Mary. But the subject of the piece sounds vaguely (embarrassingly) familiar. I've probably repressed it.

My Mistake

The chair broke,
so I gave it to our stove to chew on.
But I don't think our stove likes chairs
because the legs were still there in the morning,
black and not even smoldering.

That is how I learned
that metal does not burn.

So when Uncle Tom and Aunt Mary
and all my cousins
come over -
well, then - that's when everyone
hears about my mistake
(for the umpteenth time).

I would not mind
if they all did not cry so much
when they laughed.

I was supposed to have learned
a lesson.
And I think I did
because I don't burn metal chairs anymore,
especially since my mistake is
a subject of endless mirth.

But once in a while I get the urge
to feed the stove a relative or two.

Chinese food

From an old scrapbook Elly's mom had kept. She loved puns, and this one's a groaner.

Garlic planting time

A great day for planting the stinky bulbs, 50s and sunny. I co-opted the rows we used for the string beans since those were the easiest to turn over. I plant a little more each year. One of these days our back yard will be filled with garlic...mmm.

The bag o' bulbs

See you next spring little buddy!

Asleep in their beds while visions of earthworms dance through their heads

Mulched with oak leaves under the watchful eyes of our constant gardener. What would we do without you, Sponge Bob?

Do-it-yourself butchering

A course in carving up your own meat (though it's a tad incongruous to find this article under the NY Times Fashion and Style section).

A possible career move? Definitely not a desk job.

The program began about six months ago, but it has quickly became a darling in food circles, despite its $10,000 price tag, which just covers the costs, including practice meat, Mr. Applestone said. He said the program was intended to pass on ancient skills, not turn a profit, and has drawn interest from lawyers and a music executive interested in butchery as a second career.

But I'd need to get over the whole gore thing...

In Ryan Farr’s whole-hog classes in San Francisco, students use hacksaws and hatchets to remove hooves and brains. One volunteer in every class — lucky if you want to call it that — gets to chop off the head. "That always sort of breaks the ice," Mr. Farr said. "When you come to class, wear your rain gear and boots, because there’s going to be blood," he said.

Man vs. God

There's an interesting debate (and comments) at WSJ.com on the question, "Where does evolution leave God?".  There are some strong opinions among the readers.  I find it interesting that some view our existence as a test of some supreme being, with just reward at the end for those who do good.  But why view our time on this earth as a test?  Why do we need to look for a reward for our good deeds (as if we could not be good without hope of reward)?  Life is the reward.  Death is the end.  Your life is as meaningful as you make it.  If belief in a god makes your life more meaningful, good for you.  The bonds I form with my family and other people give my life meaning.  God is not relevant.  For that matter, neither is evolution.  The decisions I make in my life have nothing to do with a supreme being looking over my shoulder like some stern school teacher but have everything to do with how considerate I am to others.  Whether I descend from something created or something evolved makes no difference to me.

Garlic harvest

I planted an extra row last fall so there were three rows to harvest. One row was alone and the bulbs in that row were much smaller. Conclusion: garlic likes company. Either that or the adjacent, crazy, out-of-control oregano patch sucked the nutrients out of the soil in that area of the garden. Anyway, yum.

Broad Brook Grange Sugar-On-Snow Supper

Go here for information on the 2010 Grange Sugar Supper!

The Broad Brook Grange in Guilford, Vermont will host a sugar-on-snow supper on Saturday, March 7, 2009.

Seatings are at 5:00, 6:00, and 7:00 PM.

Adults: $10, Child (ages 5-12): $5, Preschooler (4 & under): $2

Reservations: 802-257-4067

Directions: From Brattleboro, take Rt. 5 South until you see the Guilford Center Store on your left. Take an immediate right onto Guilford Center Rd. and follow for about 3.8 miles. Broad Brook Grange is on your right, a large white building with red doors.

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Google Apps services dashboard

In response to their recent mail service issue, Google put up a dashboard where users can view the status of Google Apps services.

Gmail went down

The web was all a twitter with users unable to access Google's Gmail. It's so easy to take for granted that Google services will be available 24/7. I wonder how many people will now set up a local mail client (like Thunderbird) with POP or IMAP to backup their Gmail accounts. I just did. To do this yourself:

Download Thunderbird if you don't already have a mail client.

Enable IMAP in your Gmail account.

Configure your mail client.

Broadband stimulus for rural areas

The recently passed stimulus bill contains $7.2 billion for expanding broadband access in rural areas.  But in an NPR broadcast that aired today the former FCC economist, Michael Katz, argues that the money is ill spent.  In fact, he comes down pretty hard on country places:

"Other people don't like to say bad things about rural areas," Katz began. "So I will."

The stimulus package includes $7.2 billion to expand broadband Internet access into "underserved" and rural areas. Katz listed ways that the $7.2 billion could be put to better use, including an effort to combat infant deaths. But he also spoke of rural places as environmentally hostile, energy inefficient and even weak in innovation, simply because rural people are spread out across the landscape.

"The notion that we should be helping people who live in rural areas avoid the costs that they impose on society … is misguided," Katz went on, "from an efficiency point of view and an equity one."

Environmentally hostile?  Hmm, and all that concrete and pollution in our urban areas is not hostile to the environment? Weak in innovation? OK, maybe we'll keep all our livestock, grain, vegetables, and fruits for ourselves, thank you very much.

An article on ars technica last week has some more:

Katz argues that...rural residents enjoy far lower housing costs than denizens of highly wired urban areas. (He even offered his own tongue-in-cheek proposal to require rural residents to buy their own broadband service unless it would cost more than the difference between the cost of rural living and that of keeping a flat in Manhattan.)

Well, our housing costs may be lower. But so is our income.